Over the years at Camas High School (CHS), wrestling has been a popular and successful sport in which students of all ages enjoyed and excelled. For a very long time, most people were unaware of the presence of the women’s team due to the unbalanced ratio of men to women in the sport. This trend is present in many other high schools, as girls have taken on joining the male-dominated sport. Last season, only nine girls were on the CHS girls wrestling team, meaning most were instantly qualified for varsity, and they could travel to almost every tournament. This called for a very close-knit group of female wrestlers at CHS. However, they still wished for more teammates to share the sport with.

As of the 2023 season, the team size has doubled, with around 20 girls participating. Now, the girls often have the opportunity to practice alone in the mat room at CHS while all the boys head out to the field house for practice. Exercises and practice barely vary between the boys and girls teams, and they often all join together in the field house to build individual stamina, endurance and strength vital for peak performance during their season. 

This year, an incentive was also pushed out to the girls wrestling team for the student who recruited the most members, with the prize being a brand-new Camas wrestling backpack.

When asked about this sudden increase in female wrestlers, coach Kim Collier said, “The best recruiters are our wrestlers. We really try to push [for members] at the start of the school year when there’s an activity fair at lunch, just getting some of the team members out there.”

Due to all of the previous members from last year putting in the effort to get more girls on the team, there are a high number of underclassmen wrestlers, and more girls have the opportunity to learn the sport comfortably with the company of other experienced students and well-trained coaches. 

CHS sophomore Avery Vega Padilla, one of girls wrestling team captains, stated that one of her favorite parts of the season is “getting to see girls that have just joined this year and their experience and courage to be able to go out there, get on the mat and be able to wrestle.” Padilla also said she enjoys “meeting new girls to support and inspire them.”

The girls wrestling team at CHS has much to look forward to this upcoming season. With one Intrasquad match and one away tournament already under their belts, the girls have gotten a taste of what the season will be like. Most girls have seen tremendous growth already, with some members having no prior wrestling experience to winning their first matches at other high schools. 

Thanks to the CHS girls wrestling team’s efforts to recruit new members, students can expect great things from the expanding sport and increasing inclusivity. The team encourages CHS to attend their wrestling matches and cheer for the Camas girls.